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Home / Recipes
35 minutes
4.67 from 57 votes
44 Comments

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

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by: Joanna Cismaru
02.21.20
Updated: 10.01.20

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Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette – Chunks of tender chicken, sweet raisins, parmesan cheese and sunflower seeds amidst a bed of bright, fresh kale and quinoa. Paired with a stunning homemade lemon vinaigrette, this simple salad is the perfect healthy lunch.

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette on a white plate with a fork

While I love my salads, I’m not one that goes out of her way to buy kale and make these “green goddess” salads. Nope that’s just not me. No matter how much people rave about how good kale is and how good it is for you, I kind of disagree because I’d rather eat bacon, let’s just put it that way.

Now bacon I can rave about for days. But sometimes in your life, and I mean just sometimes, like once in your lifetime kind of thing, you come across a kale salad that makes you smile and think to yourself that yeah I can eat kale salad and enjoy it.

Well I had one of these riveting experiences at Moxie’s when I ordered this kale and quinoa salad. While I have no idea what possessed me to order such an unheard of type of lunch for me, I did and I fell in love with it. As a food blogger, I just knew I had to recreate it myself.

The gorgeous green colour of the kale paired with the tender chicken, quinoa, crunchy sunflower seeds and bursts of sweet raisins – not to mention, the fresh parm and incredible, zesty, citrus flavor from the homemade lemon vinaigrette. This salad will make you feel good from the inside, out.

a bunch of kale on a cutting board

The benefits of kale and quinoa

Kale

Kale is one of the healthiest and most nutritious plant foods out there! It’s an extremely popular vegetable and is part of the cabbage family. Loaded with tons of antioxidants and a huge list of vitamins and minerals – this super green is the epitome of “health” food. It’s low in fat, calories and can help lower cholesterol – bonus! Kale can be used in a variety of different dishes and is something everyone should try and incorporate in their diets.

Quinoa

Quinoa; pronounced KEEN-wa – is gluten-free plant food. It is high in protein, fiber and contains all nine essential amino acids! With a low glycemic index and high mineral content it has beneficial properties for your metabolism. It can be easily incorporated into your diet and goes with many different dishes. It has a very subtle, almost non-existent taste on its own and will take on whatever flavor it is paired with making it very easy to add to your meals!

Ingredients

KeeKeep scrolling down to the recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions, or click the Jump To Recipe button at the top.

Salad

  • Quinoa – Dry.
  • Water – To cook quinoa.
  • Chicken – I used chicken breasts; cooked, skinless and boneless -chopped small.
  • Olive Oil – You can substitute for vegetable oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, or avocado oil.
  • Salt and Pepper – To taste.
  • Garlic Powder – To taste.
  • Kale – Fresh, chopped very small.
  • Sunflower Seeds – I used unsalted. You can use any seed of your choice, pumpkin seeds would work well.
  • Golden Raisins – You can substitute cranberries as well.
  • Parmesan – Freshly grated. Feta would be good in this as well.

Lemon Vinaigrette

  • Olive Oil – You can substitute for vegetable oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, or avocado oil.
  • Lemon Juice – I used fresh, you can use store bought if you’d like.
  • Garlic – Fresh is best! Minced.
  • Salt andPepper – To taste.
  • Oregano – Dried.
  • Honey – If you don’t have any honey, you can substitute maple syrup or agave.
Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette in a white bowl

How to make kale and quinoa salad

  1. Cook Quinoa – Start by combining 1 cup of water with the dry quinoa in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Cover the saucepan and reduce the heat, let simmer until the quinoa is tender. If there’s any water left, make sure you drain the quinoa.
  2. Prepare Chicken – Add olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces, season with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook until chicken is no longer pink but starting to brown. Remove chicken from skillet and let cool.
  3. Mix Salad – In a large bowl toss together the kale, cooked chicken, quinoa, sunflower seeds and raisins.

Lemon Vinaigrette

  1. Mix Dressing – Whisk together all the ingredients for the lemon vinaigrette in a small bowl. Adjust salt and pepper as necessary.
  2. Toss – Pour the vinaigrette over the kale salad and toss well. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.

How to serve

You can serve your kale and quinoa salad on it’s own as a quick, healthy lunch or snack option. Try switching out the chicken for a different protein like salmon or you can serve it as a side dish to a nice dinner. If you want to add some more healthy options to your salad, why not try these!

  • Broccoli
  • Carrot
  • Chives
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • Cranberries
  • Tomato
  • Cucumber
  • Pine Nuts
  • Bell Pepper
  • Onion
  • Chickpea
  • Parsley
  • Feta

Leftovers

The beauty of this kale and quinoa salad is that it will absorb the flavor of the lemon vinaigrette over time, tasting even better the next day! Covered and stored in the fridge, it will keep for 3-5 days.

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette on a white plate with a fork

Did you like this healthy recipe? Try these!

  • Kale Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette
  • Mushroom and Arugula Warm Salad
  • Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes Corn and Kale Bake
  • Broccoli Salad
  • Greek Chicken Red Quinoa Salad
  • Moroccan Chicken Couscous
  • Shrimp Ceviche
  • California Quinoa Salad
  • Avocado Tomato Salad
  • Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

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a plate of kale and quinoa salad with a fork resting on the plate

Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

4.67 from 57 votes
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 35 mins
Author: Joanna Cismaru
Serves: 4
Print Pin Rate
Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette – Chunks of tender chicken, sweet raisins, fresh parmesan cheese and sunflower seeds amidst a bed of bright, fresh kale and quinoa. Paired with a stunning homemade lemon vinaigrette, this simple salad is the perfect healthy lunch.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup quinoa dry
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 lb chicken breasts cooked, skinless and boneless, chopped small
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1 tsp pepper or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 5 cups kale chopped very small
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Lemon Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper ground
  • 1 tsp oregano dried
  • 1 tsp honey
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Start by combining 1 cup of water with the dry quinoa in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to low, let it simmer for about 15 minutes until the quinoa is tender. If there’s any water left, make sure you drain the quinoa first.
  • While the quinoa is cooking, you can prepare the chicken. Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces, season with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook for about 8 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink but it’s just starting to brown a bit. Remove chicken from skillet and let cool.
  • In a large bowl toss together the kale, cooked chicken, quinoa, sunflower seeds and raisins.

Lemon Vinaigrette

  • Whisk together all the ingredients for the lemon vinaigrette in a small bowl. Adjust salt and pepper as necessary.
  • Pour the vinaigrette over the kale salad and toss really well. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Recipe Notes

  1. The beauty of this kale and quinoa salad is that it will absorb the flavor of the lemon vinaigrette over time, tasting even better the next day! Covered and stored in the fridge, it will keep for 3-5 days.
  2. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
 

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 514kcal (26%)Carbohydrates: 33g (11%)Protein: 35g (70%)Fat: 28g (43%)Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)Cholesterol: 76mg (25%)Sodium: 852mg (37%)Potassium: 1087mg (31%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 7g (8%)Vitamin A: 8450IU (169%)Vitamin C: 108.5mg (132%)Calcium: 233mg (23%)Iron: 3.5mg (19%)
Course:Salad
Cuisine:American
Keyword:kale and quinoa salad, kale salad, lemon vinaigrette
Tried this recipe? Rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!

Meet Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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Comments

  1. Ally says

    June 20, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    5 stars
    This was a great recipe. Thank you!!

    Reply
  2. Paula M says

    June 5, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    Do recipe ingredient amounts change at all if chicken is omitted?

    Reply
    • Jo Cooks Team says

      June 8, 2020 at 9:52 am

      You can keep everything else the same!

      Reply
  3. Torrie says

    May 31, 2020 at 1:17 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing! I don’t care for fruit in a salad so I left out the raisins, and I didn’t have sunflower seeds so i subbed pecans. So good! Thanks for a great recipe.

    Reply
    • Jo Cooks Team 2 says

      June 1, 2020 at 9:19 am

      Yay! So glad you liked it 🙂

      Reply
  4. B Perry says

    February 29, 2020 at 11:06 am

    5 stars
    I just made this and it is so good. I had it at a restaurant in London and had been searching for a recipe that was similar to the one I ate there. This is it. I massaged the kale with some olive oil just before adding the ingredients. I also added extra honey to the dressing because I thought it was too tart for our tastes. I also used dried cranberries since I didn’t have raisins. I will be making this again and again.

    Reply
  5. Diane C says

    December 19, 2019 at 11:19 pm

    5 stars
    Really, really good. I saw on Twitter where someone asked for the recipe for the lemon vinaigrette and the manager said it has: fresh thyme, shallots, olive oil, lemon juice, fresh ground pepper, salt, water, and honey. You are pretty much there and I think I like the garlic idea, but I may add some shallots as well. It is pretty darn delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe. 🙂

    Reply
    • jo says

      December 20, 2019 at 2:08 pm

      Great, so glad you liked it. I’ll have to try adding shallots next time. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Steph says

    December 6, 2019 at 5:20 pm

    Can you please give a measurement for the garlic? As cloves differ in size.

    Reply
    • jo says

      December 6, 2019 at 6:01 pm

      It doesn’t matter, use as much garlic as you like.

      Reply
  7. Katrina says

    October 10, 2019 at 4:14 pm

    I was also surprised at how much I loved this meal when I ordered it at Moxie’s. I followed the recipe but baked the chicken and added thyme and replaced the raisins for dried cranberries.

    Reply
  8. Lo says

    August 17, 2019 at 5:59 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely scrumptious! The vinaigrette simply MAKES this so divine!

    Reply
  9. Diane says

    June 13, 2019 at 6:32 pm

    I had this at Moxies last evening…loved it…thank you doing this!💕

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      June 13, 2019 at 6:52 pm

      Hope you try it, it’s one of my favorite salads!

      Reply
  10. Teri says

    March 21, 2019 at 10:49 am

    5 stars
    You were right! I made this for lunch today and it was very yummy! Only thing I did differently is I doubled the dressing. I had a salad similar to this when I was traveling once but could not find anything close to it again, this hit it on the nail head! Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Clarice says

    September 12, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    I’m sure you love comments like “I followed this recipe, except I totally changed it…” haha, but I followed this recipe, except… well… I totally changed it. I’m new to your blog; I stumbled across it when I searched for “quinoa kale lemon salad” to try and recreate a salad I had from a catered lunch meeting at work. I used your vinaigrette recipe exactly, but changed the proportions of kale to quinoa (about 1.5 cup raw quinoa, cooked in 3 c chicken stock, and 3 cups torn up kale), used feta instead of parmesan and pine nuts instead of sunflower seeds, and used some chicken I had previously seasoned/grilled and then frozen. BUT, the vinaigrette was perfect for recreating what I’ve been remembering about this salad for months. Thanks!

    Reply
  12. Diana Lozano says

    August 26, 2018 at 12:01 pm

    Hi! Quick question about the sodium, it seems very high. Do you know where that comes from? That way I can omit it, if possible. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Nicole Beaulieu says

      August 27, 2018 at 10:45 am

      You can omit the salt from the dressing since you’ll already be rubbing the kale leaves with salt and oil. I wouldn’t skip that step, it makes the kale nice and soft and palatable.

      Reply
  13. Cheryl says

    August 19, 2018 at 4:11 pm

    5 stars
    Tastes just like Moxies if you use currents, pumpkin seeds and grano padano!!! So good!

    Reply
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